Cinnamon Ridge hunting Lodge in Ehrhardt S.C. was home to the first annual Team Frady All Women All Weapon hunt held October 16-19. It's a beautiful lodge with al the charm of Grandma's house.

Jim and I had the idea years ago for a hunt like this. There are plenty of all women's hunts available, but most are weapon specific, Does and Bows for example. I love to bow hunt, but I have plenty of friends that rifle or muzzleloader hunt only. This keeps us from hunting together. So Jim and I set out to find an outfitter that would enjoy an all women's hunt and have bow, rifle, shotgun, pistol, and crossbow seasons that would somehow overlap. We found that in South Carolina, their whitetail season opens the middle of August and remains open till January and when whitetail season opens it is open to all weapons the entire time the season is open. Problem solved! Owner, Trent Horne was very excited about the hunt when we started planning it in February. He had plenty of women to hunt with him in the past, but never an all women's hunt. Was he in for a surprise! Women are the most patient and understanding hunters, but they are firm believers in having a great time and they don't require any sleep.

I arrived early on Thursday morning to get everything set up for the ladies and was met by Dolly and Buffy. They had arrived earlier that morning. Buffy was sighting in her rifle on the 100 yard rifle range. The set up at Cinnamon Ridge is great.

During the afternoon while waiting on the others to arrive, I asked the ladies if they would like to come out to the range and shoot our Excalibur Exocet 150 lb. Crossbow. Dolly and Buffy were all for it and so was Robin. Jane though, said no. She would just sit and watch. She had shot a crossbow once before and somehow got her thumb caught in the string. When she pulled the trigger, it about ripped her thumb off. I promised her it was safe and that I would not let her get hurt. After much coaxing, she decided to try it again. After going over safety and demonstrating, the ladies spent the afternoon shooting. They were amazed at the accuracy on their first shot. Even Dolly got in on the action. Because of the design of the crossbow and her cast she shot with her second finger and was right on target. Jim and I feel that Crossbow hunting needs to be legal in all states instead of just a few or for handicap hunters only. It is a great form of hunting that is great for women, children, and people of all ages. We believe that crossbow hunting would bring more people to hunting that did not want to hunt with a rifle or shotgun and who are not strong enough to draw a bow. It is great fun for the whole family.

4:30 AM found the clock ringing and everyone up and getting ready to go. We would head to the stand about 5:30, so we grabbed a quick cup of coffee and Chris and Trent went over where we would be and that they would be back around 10:30 or 11:00. Kathy decided she would stay all day so she packed a lunch and told Trent to come get her at dark. The rest decided to come in at regular time, eat breakfast and Lynette and Ellen had asked me if I would help them with their bows that afternoon.

No one had any luck during the morning hunt Some of the ladies had seen deer, but they were all waiting on the "big one". I worked with Ellen and Lynette and all of us were more than ready to go back out for the evening hunt. There would be no deer harvested today. Again, the ladies saw deer, but not what they were looking for. There were lots of does, fawns, and spikes, but the ladies were willing to hold out because Saturday would be another day of opportunities. Kathy did not have any luck on her all day vigil, but she was ready for another day.

Friday night was full of fun. I gave a seminar on different hunting and outdoor products and told them how many companies catered to women. It is real surprising. They had all been reading their catalogs in their spare time and had some really great questions.

All the ladies agreed to come back in at 10:30 since most of the deer had been seen the evening before and not in the morning. When we all met back at the lodge, Dolly was still shaking. She had been taking her video camera with her and caught a nice eight point on film. She didn't take a shot because she thought it was only a six point. While she sat there and watched it, a huge buck stepped out of the woods. She said her heart was beating so hard she was afraid he would hear her. She had her rifle up and only needed him to take one more step. Off in the distance another hunter fired their rifle and her monster buck just backed right back into the woods where he had materialized and left her with only the memory of him. Needless to say, she was excited to have seen such a magnificent deer and only wished she had got him on video.

We were all ready to head to the woods Saturday afternoon. Kathy, Lynette, and I decided to go early to the stand to get in a few extra hours in hopes the deer might be moving midday. By 1:30 I was settled in my stand and was very excited about where I would spend my day. My stand was on the edge of a green field and was well placed in a deer transition area. The trails were well worn and the sign was fresh. We had joked with Dolly all weekend beause she was in turkey Heaven where her ground blind was located. There is no fall turkey in the area we were hunting, which made it that much worse. This afternoon would turn out to be my afternoon with the turkeys. There was a huge Tom and hen in the field and they stayed for what seemed like hours.

Around 5:00 PM, the shots started ringing out but none came from my Weatherby 30-06. I could tell however, that Lynette and Kathy who were hunting the same area, had one on the ground. The shots continued to roar throughout the evening until dark. I had used my Quaker Boy Doe in Heat can and my Ridge Runner Grunt call to no avail. So at full dark, I put my gear in my Crooked Horn Master Back Pack and sat there enjoying the quiet waiting on Trent to pick me up. I could hear his truck coming and as he got near I could see Lynette and Kathy in the bed of the truck with a beautiful 8 point which Kathy had harvested with her Remington Model 700 .308. I asked Lynette if it was her rifle I had heard earlier and she said that is was over from her somewhere and that she thought it was I. We could not wait to get back to the lodge and show off Kathy's buck and to see if any of the other girls had any luck.

When we arrived back at the lodge, we would find that Kathy was not the only one that luck had smiled upon. Jane had harvested an awesome 10 point buck with her Remington 30-06 and Ellen had harvested her very first deer: a 3 point buck. she had not told anyone, but that was her very first deer hunt. We were all so excited and proud of her.

I would like to say a special thank you to all the sponsors that made this hunt possible and our hats off to Trent and Chris at Cinnamon Ridge Hunting Lodge for providing the ladies a great place to hunt.

Real Tree Outdoors

Copper John 3-D Sights

Muzzy Products

Bass Pro Shops

Mathews Solocam Bows

Arby's Shoes, Inc.

Wildlife Research Center

Super Dog Obedience

Weatherby Rifles and Shotguns

Borg Warner Turbo Systems

Gorilla Tree Stands

Danner Boots

Bodoodle Arrowrest

Carbon Express Arrows

Trophy Ridge Hunting Sights

Game Tracker Products

Firetacks Trail Markers

Nikon Sport Optics

Quaker Boy Game Calls

McKenzie Targets

Straight Shot Archery Products

Specialty Archery Products

Golden Key Futura

Crooked Horn Outfitters

Thermacell Mosquito Repellant

Sims SVL Limsavers

Outdoor Edge Cutlery

Zebra Twist Stings

Arrow's Web Quivers

Bug Tamer

Georgia Boots

Eastman's Outdoors

WomenHunters.com

Excalibur Crossbows

WomenWhoHunt

Tru-Glo

Ameristep Products

Rackulator Electronic Scoring System